Any suggestions/tips about locating deals of this nature would be greatly appreciated, especially from those who have experience working in Florida.

If this is based on a natural flood, I'd be very cautious in deciding if this is a property you want to hold long term, and be aware of the insurance costs before purchasing. 

While I am not permitted to post any type of self promotion here in the non-market forums,and as you have nothing to do with that injustice, to display my non "a-hole" nature.... here ya go pulled just now https://pastebin.com/eMUhWzcP

I am a bit weary of doing a rehab for my first project but at the same time I do want to learn and take something of this nature head on.

.- Negativity: I'm a very positive person by nature but people are telling me not to do this like I'm sentencing myself to a life of failure.

If you are supplementing with bank financing, the best deals are often the ones that need to close very quickly, and much faster than a bank can work with...this is where hard money or private money is a great tool.

I also like that the fees aren’t drastic and are lower than most brick and mortar offices because of the cloud based nature.

:) I am looking for mainly long term investments where I can have a property manager manage the property and have supplement income.

Right now, you're much better off with a long term conventional loan versus hard money because if the economy tanks in the next 12-18 months, you don't want to be stuck with a high interest hard money loan (possibly with a cliff that you're required to pay soon), but no banks willing to refinance the deal for you.One option is to ask banks if they'll do a supplemental loan after you increase the NOI.  

@Ellie PerlmanThanks for great post and the detailed nature of your process.